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Even Minor Brain Injuries Leave Brain Damage
A recent study by Newcastle University reveals that even mild brain injuries can cause brain damage. Researchers compared 53 people with brain injuries – 44 had mild brain injuries and 9 had moderate injuries – to 33 people who had no brain injuries. Ages of the participants ranged from 16 to 68 years of age.
Each group of people was tested in thinking and memory skills. They also all received a diffusion tensor imaging scan, a more powerful scan than typical MRIs used to detect damage to brain cells. The participants who had been injured received their scans within six days of being injured.
People who had received even minor brain injuries scored 25 percent lower in the memory and thinking skills testing than people who had no brain injuries. Additionally, the scans of those with injuries revealed injuries to the parts of the brain matter that allows brain cells to transmit message to other brain cells.
Study Finds Spike in Marijuana’s Role in Fatal Crashes
According to a recent study by researchers at Columbia University, there has been a marked increase in the number of traffic fatalities that were caused by marijuana use in the past decade.
Researchers studied statistics from the half dozen states that consistently conduct toxicology tests on drivers (within one hour of the accident) involved in fatal vehicle crashes. Illinois is one state included in the study. Data from more than 23,500 crashes from the years 1999 to 2010 was compiled and analyzed.
The amount of marijuana contributed fatalities had tripled. In a statement, lead researcher Dr. Guohua Li said, “Currently, one of nine drivers involved in fatal crashes would test positive for marijuana. If this trend continues, in five or six years non-alcohol drugs will overtake alcohol to become the most common substance involved in deaths related to impaired driving.” The research team found that the percentage of traffic fatalities that were contributed to alcohol in that same time period was 40 percent.
Dangers of Leaving Children in Hot Vehicles
Summer has officially arrived and that means longer days and hotter temperatures. With those temperatures, comes the warning to parents and caregivers about the dangers of leaving children unattended – or allowing them access to – hot vehicles. Doing so can have tragic consequences.
The temperature in a closed car sitting in the sun can hit 40 to 50 degrees more than the temperature outside. For example, if it is 80 degrees outside, the temperature in a locked up car can reach 120 to 130 degrees very quickly. If you leave a child locked in a car, even for just a few minutes, it could be fatal.
Last year, 44 children died from heatstroke after being left in a locked car. This year, there have already been 13 deaths of children left in vehicles. Statistics provided by San Francisco University show that since 1998, 619 children’s lives have been lost to heatstroke suffered from being left unattended in a locked vehicle.
Safety Tips for Senior Drivers
According to statistics provided by the Federal Highway Administration, in 2012, there were about 23 million licensed drivers on the road who were 70 years and older. That number is approximately 11 percent of all licensed drivers.
It is estimated that by 2030, there will be almost 50 million vehicle drivers who are over 70 years of age. Insurance statistics show that claims for collision and property damage begin increasing when drivers are 65 years old or older. There is concern that because seniors tend to have a decrease in cognitive, visual and physical abilities, this could affect their driving. Routine driving, such as merging or changing lanes, can suddenly become stressful, causing a senior to panic or cause an accident.
The Mayo Clinic offers these safety tips for older drivers to help ensure safety behind the wheel:
Census Report Shows More People Bicycling to Work
A new report by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals there is an increase of people choosing non-motorized transportation to get to work every day. The data shows that more and more people are choosing bicycling or walking as their preferred mode of going to work. A bicyclist driving the same roads with vehicles can be put in dangerous situations when drivers do not respect the rules of sharing the road.
The report is based on data that is collected from the American Community Survey (ACS) between the years of 2008 to 2012. Approximately 3.5 million households received the survey. The survey was geared towards respondents who were 16 years or older and worked outside the home. Respondents were asked what their primary method of transportation to get to work was for the prior week.
How Safe are Extreme Obstacle Competitions?
More and more people are participating in extreme obstacle race competitions. Many of these events include climbing walls, ropes, obstacle courses, mud pits and long-distance running. It is an ever-growing industry that produces hundreds of millions of dollars for the companies that sponsor these events.
And as the popularity of these events increase, so do the reports of serious injuries and fatalities.
One company has had four at least four participants during competitions they have sponsored in the past three years. The most recent death occurred in April 2013 during a race in West Virginia when a 28 year-old man drowned during the “Walk the Plank” portion of the race. Participants are required to stand on a 15-foot platform and plunge into a 13 foot pool of freezing, muddy water. Then they have to swim forty feet to a cargo net and exit the pool.
OSHA Issues 2014 SST Plan
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, (OSHA) recently announced its yearly inspection plan, specifically targeting areas that have the highest rates of injury and illness occur in the workplace.
The 2014 Site-Specific Targeting (SST) program is based on results the agency conducted in 2012 of companies in industries which are in high-hazard industries surveyed over 80,000 companies. In the appendix of the plan, OSHA lists descriptions of the industries of the companies they surveyed, which included air transportation, automobiles, construction materials, courier services, department stores, groceries, manufacturing, medical facilities, poultry products, scrap and waste, trucking and warehousing.
The results were then used to come up with the plan, which is geared for companies in non-hazard industries which have 20 or more employees.
Included in the plan is a checklist to be used by compliance safety officers. This checklist should help the officers with inspection and scheduling procedures.
New Report Unfavorable for Commercial Carrier Watchdog
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Two Children’s Products Recalled for Safety Issues
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced that Sweden-based furniture maker IKEA has issued a recall for nearly 3 million baby bed canopies that the company has been selling for almost twenty years. According to the product recall alert, the canopies pose a strangulation risk to young children.
The CPSC says that there have been at least nine reports of children becoming wrapped around and entangled in the canopy. One report involved a seven-month-old infant who managed to pull the fabric of the canopy into her crib and wrapped it around her neck. A spokesperson for IKEA says that some reports of these incidents involved minor injuries to the children. However, the details of those injuries have not been released. The baby bed canopies are made to hang from a hook over a child’s crib or bed. The product measures 7 feet by 2 feet and is made out of a mesh-like material. The canopies were sold from August 1996 until March 2014 at a cost of between $10 and $30. There are several models involved in the recall:- Legendarisk
Social Media in Lawsuits
The danger social media can play in the outcome of a court case was amplified in a recent wrongful death case. Not only was the plaintiff sanctioned by the court, but his attorney was as well.
In 2010, Isiah Lester, of Virginia, was awarded $6,227,000 plus $2,350,000 in interest for the death of his 25 year-old wife Jessica. Jessica was killed in 2008 when a truck owned by the Allied Concrete Company had come around a corner on just two wheels, flipped and landed on top of Jessica’s car. The concrete truck, weighing over 60,000 pounds, crushed Jessica. The driver later pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He lost his commercial license and spent 30 days in jail.
Lester filed the lawsuit against both the driver and the concrete company. During the trial, Lester’s attorney, Matthew Murray, received a request for discovery from the defendants’ attorneys. They were requesting content Lester had on his Facebook profile. Also attached to the motion was a copy of a photo of Lester wearing a shirt which read “I love hot mom” and holding a beer can.
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9631 W. 153rd St., Suite 32, Orland Park, IL 60462
708-966-2408
